The Bourne Identity (2002) - Terrific action in Liman & Co.'s spy adaptation

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Star Matt Damon runs in a black outfit with a gun aim on his chest on this poster for Doug Liman's The Bourne Identity

A man gets rescued out of the Mediterranean Sea. He has no memory of who he is, but his unusual skills and clues lead him on track to uncover his identity as a clandestine weapon of the CIA.

The Bourne Identity is written by Tony Gilroy (State of Play (2009)) and W. Blake Herron (Skin Art (1993)), adapting Robert Ludlum's (The Gemini Contenders (1976)) same-titled 1980 novel, and directed by Doug Liman (Getting In (1994)).
Matt Damon (The Martian (2015)) is intense and motivated in this first entry of the successful Bourne franchise, which is especially interesting for its well-shot action scenes; especially an excellent car chase and some good fight scenes: The fight scene in the apartment, which the girl involved Marie (Franka Potente (Romulus My Father (2007))) witnesses, must be among the decade's best.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's (Delta of Venus (1995)) is fierce as the film's repugnant, African leader heavy, while the other stars involved don't make real impressions, and the plot never becomes very concrete or suspenseful. Another reservation against The Bourne Identity: The maybe gypsy Marie is a vague character, who almost doesn't protest at all to be suddenly hijacked onto Bourne's deadly quest.

Related posts:

Bourne franchise: The Bourne Legacy (2012) or, Bourne 4: Hokum
Doug Liman: Fair Game (2010) or, The Intelligence War

Watch a 3-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 60 mil. $
Box office: 214 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 3.56 times its cost)
[The Bourne Identity premiered 6 June (Los Angeles) and runs 119 minutes. Liman was a long-time fan of the novel and spent years getting it to the screen. Brad Pitt, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Russell Crowe were approached to star, before Damon was cast. Shooting took place in Greece, Spain, Italy, including Rome, Prague, Czech Republic, Paris, France and in Switzerland from October 2000 - ?. The shoot ran long, with reshoots and contentment between Liman and the studio executives, and reportedly ran 8 mil. $ over budget. - Though the final budget listed curiously still is the pre-production agreed upon 60 mil. $. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Scooby-Doo, to a 27.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#4-#5) and grossed 121.6 mil. $ (56.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 13.1 mil. $ (6.1 %) and the UK with 12.3 mil. $ (5.7 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Bourne returned in The Bourne Supremacy (2004), and the franchise went on with 3 more sequels to date. Liman returned with Indie Is Great (2002, short), The O.C. (2003, TV-series) and theatrically with Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Damon returned in The Bernie Mack Show (2002, TV-series) and theatrically in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002). The Bourne Identity is certified fresh at 83 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Bourne Identity?

The Bourne Legacy (2012) or, Bourne 4: Hokum

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A dynamically designed poster for Tony Gilroy's The Bourne Legacy

A governmentally employed assassin, who had previously been much used by a cynical retired Air Force colonel, now gets hunted by him, as he gets in connection with a skilled chemical engineer.

Edward Norton (The Invention of Lying (2009)) is a dreary heavy as the commanding, tight-assed colonel, but also the more sympathetic parts played by Jeremy Renner (Ingenious (2009)), - who at one point in the film is battered something awful, - and Rachel Weisz (Death Machine (1994)) can't alter the fact that this the 4th film in the Bourne franchise, - for the first time without Matt Damon as the now absent Jason Bourne, - is cryptic bordering on incomprehensible.
Without any introduction to the film's new elements, such as color-coded 'chems', parts of its dialog come across as advanced theatrical exercises. This is fatal, and it makes The Bourne Legacy seem incredibly long. The impressive cast here are gathered for what is essentially an audience-hostile fart in a can. 
The Bourne Legacy is written by twins Dan Gilroy (The Fall (2006)) and co-writer-director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton (2007)), based loosely on the Bourne book series by Robert Ludlum (The Chancellor Manuscript (1977)). It has two successful suspense scenes in it: One is a shooting scene that takes place in a laboratory with a mad Zeljko Ivanek (The West Wing (2003), TV-series), and the other is a high-speed car-motorcycle chase in Manila.

Related posts:

Tony Gilroy: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) or, Ginny's Fate: A Star Wars Calculation (co-writer)
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 125 mil. $
Box office: 276.1 mil. $
= Flop
[The Bourne Legacy premiered 30 July (New York) and runs 135 minutes. Matt Damon would not do a Bourne film without Paul Greengrass, who directed the 2nd and 3rd film and decided against doing the 4th. Tony Gilroy had written scripts for the first 3 films and was promoted to also direct the film, which takes place partially during the events of the preceding The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Shooting took place in the Philippines, including in Manila, in Seoul, South Korea, Alberta, Canada, New York and Chicago, Illinois from September 2011 - ?. The film opened #1 to a 38.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 3 weeks (#2-#2-#4) and grossed 113.2 mil. $ (41 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 17.4 mil. $ (6.3 %) and China with 16 mil. $ (5.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal to two notches better than this review. Greengrass and Damon were lured back for a 5th Bourne movie, Jason Bourne (2016), which did not feature Renner and was a box office success. Tony Gilroy has stayed away from directing since the film; instead he has returned as producer of the great Nightcrawler (2014), consulting producer on House of Cards (2015-16) and co-writer of The Great Wall (2016) and Rogue One (2016). The Bourne Legacy is rotten at 56 % with a 5.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Bourne Legacy?